Education is about learning to follow the rules of an society: coming to school or work in time, sitting still and quiet while being bored for several hours. You know, the important skills you need to be a good little worker bee.
Being on time, and attendance, these seemed to get emphasized more than actual performance when I was in high school. This reflects how some of my worst jobs were, too.
Far be it for me to defend US high schools, but being on time is very much a skill that people lack - and it so annoying, not to mention a sign disrespect for the other peoples time, to be later for appointments.